Materialism

The Truths of Materialism Materialism can be good, but do the negatives outweigh the positives' So many people in our society seem to have lost the ability to differ between wants and needs. They have lost a sense of priority as well. Materialism helps the economy flourish, but it also blinds us of what true happiness is. Materialism is not always bad, it’s only when you abuse it that it becomes so. An interest becomes materialism when it is intense enough to override priorities that should be paramount (Dallin H. Oaks). Materialism becomes bad when it becomes the main focus in one’s life (wisegeek.com). Some people are blind when it starts taking over them. They do not realize it even though there are huge clues hinting at it. Materialism may be an obsession, a preoccupation, or merely a strong interest (Dallin H. Oaks). When it becomes an obsession, it can start to mess with one’s mind. People get the idea that having more will make them happier (James Thwitchell). This can really turn one’s life upside down. Being succumbed by materialism can seriously affect people negatively. The effects of materialism are similar to brainwashing (allaboutphilosophy.org). Although hard to believe, people actually change, sometimes to the extent where they are strangers to friends. One way a person changes is how they gain happiness. They believe that satisfaction with life is found to increase with income (crabs-rutgers.edu). They lose, or forget, the meaning of true happiness and where it comes from. Most of the unhappiness people experience can be attributed to our preoccupation with materialism (reasoned.org). For that small moment when they make that purchase they have joy, not happiness, but two days later they are not happy enough with it. What they have will never be enough. Happiness is a mental state (reasoned.org). Most Americans have spent their way to happiness (James Twitchell). It is like the story of the man and the sports car: A man finally bought his dream sports car. He was very excited but when he asked his family of four who wanted to take a ride in it, he could only bring one person. He realized that he would rather have a moderately nice car that he can have all of his family in, who are his true happiness, than a nice car that only brings him joy. We create ourselves through things (James Twitchell). The greed built up in those with an addiction to materialism can pushed those who matter away. They may dislike who you are becoming, whether it is personality change, or attitude change. Three personalities are commonly configured when materialism becomes an addiction: envy, non-generous, and possessive (crab-rutgers.org). Self interests are also altered. Self-interests = selfishness, no compassion, and greed (allaboutphilosophy.org). Materialism can take away one’s freedom in a way. It changes how and what people think and believe. In a way, materialism blinds people of reality. Everything is so consumer driven in today's America that we've all lost sight of what's best and what's truly right (Kyle Konetzke).They gain unrealistic expectations on how material things will make their lives better (Dan Kadlec). People come to believe that the more they have will make others think differently about them. It’s common that they think people will like them (Dan Kadlec). In many cases this probably is true, but they will like them for the wrong reasons. It is thought that it will make them a better person (Dan Kadlec). Financial success begins to be everything. If they do not have that, then they have nothing. Financial success= values as a human being (reasoned.org). Having friends and family that love them begins to not be enough. It actually becomes very unimportant. They get the idea that having more will make them happier (James Twitchell). The more the needs are satisfied, the stronger the needs grow.Your lifestyle is not related to what you do for a living, but what you buy (James Thwitchell). They are fooled by the belief that possessions are what define them. Art Buchwald said, “The best things in life are not things.” Many will go out and buy things they want instead of buying food and clothing, that which they need. So many under the influence of materialism have a hard time differing things they want and things they need. They start to think that what they want is what they need. To a considerable degree, we live for things (James Twitchell). Yes, it may be what they need to find joy but not to live and survive. They purchase things they want over what they need. Soon they live off of the materials they buy. Money brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; days of joy, but not peace or happiness (Dallin H. Oaks). This really shows that the love of money is, in a way, the root of all evil. Materialism is a sickness and it is rising (Kyle Konetzke). Although there are numerous negatives, there are a few positives. Materialism does help the economy flourish. Without consumers, the government would have no way to get income. With materialism, many things are purchased. Consumers spending accounts for about 70% of the United States Gross Domestic Product (Shane Hall). With so much want, there needs to be more inventions, especially in technology. Materialism helps stimulate the economy, and encourage the process of free-enterprise (wisegeek.com). Economic materialism drives consumers to spend more of their disposable incomes and acquire more goods which is equal to economic growth (Shane Hall). Material objects cannot buy happiness, but money can depending how you use it. A flip side to material spending is experiential spending, or spending on experiences like the aforementioned camping example (Matthew Bandyk). You can buy experiences rather than things. It is not that material things are inherently bad, but the best thing about experiences is that you can reflect on them and revisit those experiences again and again (rowdykittens.com). Materialism can be good when used to help others. Humans are one of the most social animals on the planet and having strong relationships is the number one predictor of happiness (rowdykittens.com). It is better to buy many little pleasures than a few big pleasures. For example, going out to coffee with friends or having a beer with co-workers will happen more frequently than buying a two week trip to Hawaii (rowdykittens.com). Consumers do need to be careful about the mantra ‘consume now, pay later’. If you cannot afford it then do not buy it. The negative points of materialism completely consume the positives. With so much anguish and loss of true happiness because of materialism, we need to help put limitations on it. Although materialism helps our economy, it weakens our citizens. We cannot all lose our sense of priority. Materialism helps our economy flourish, but that is not enough. We must stand strong and fight this wild fire ‘mental illness’. Works Cited "6 Ways Money Can Buy Happiness." RowdyKittens — Social Change through Simple Living. Web. 24 May 2011. . "Consumer Behavior Society Notes." Rutgers University :: Faculty & Staff | Camden Computing Services. Web. 24 May 2011. . "Effects Of Materialism." Philosophy - AllAboutPhilosophy.org. Web. 24 May 2011. . Hall, Shane. "The Effects of Materialism on Economics | EHow.com." EHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | EHow.com. Web. 24 May 2011. . "How Being Materialistic Can Actually Make You Happy - US News and World Report." Business News and Financial News - US News Business. Web. 24 May 2011. . Http://emp.byui.edu/SATTERFIELDB/Talks/Covet%20Greed/Materialism%20DHO.htm. BYU Idaho. Web. 5 May 2011. "Lies-lead-debt-problems: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance." Yahoo! Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News. Web. 24 May 2011. . NYU NYUHome Homepages. Web. 24 May 2011. . "The Rebirth of Materialism in America - by Kyle Konetzke - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Web. 24 May 2011. . "RS Part16: Materialism." Reasoned Spirituality a Logical Exploration of Life. Web. 24 May 2011. . "What Is Materialism'" WiseGEEK: Clear Answers for Common Questions. Web. 24 May 2011. .